Expansion-contraction joint



Jan. 10, 1928. 1,655,835

A. c. FISCHER EXPANSION CONTRACTION JOINT Ofiginal Filed Jan.5, 1922 Q@jNVENTOR (QW- v' A a 0 f) ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 10, 1928. v

UNITED S'I'A'I'ES PATENT OFFICE,

ALBERT C. FISCHER, DIE CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

EXPANSION-CONTRACTION JOINT.

.Applieation filed January 3,1922. Serial Heretofore, in concrete pavingwhere contractlon was to be provided for it has been the pract ce toinsert a piece of metallongitudinally or transversely below the surface,

so; that when the concrete block or slab is fully poured and completedthe contraction joint is not visible at the surface. After the concretesets and contracts the function-of these pieces of metal is to'cause avery fine crevice to develop thru the entire slab, so that it becomesvisible on the surface, and

functioning in this way it is styled a contrac-' tion joint. 1 a

Further development in this style of allowing for expansion andcontraction in concrete pavements can be made in which a wedge orangular formation is provided, so. that the projections developing inone concrete slab, by reason of filling in these projections in thecontraction joint, penetrate the other .slabso that resistance is causedto any lifting action on the part of the concrete slabs. Some of theseformations have been angular nd some half hexagonal in shape,

* with straight flanges extending on either side in a vertical positionwhen placed. These contraction joints, while causing the crevice No.526,742. Renewed Februaryl, 1926.,

tion to the projecting slabs of bituminous traction joints.

Expansion joints have usually been placed so that the upper edge of thejoint was visible on the surface of the pavement, and in many cases wasallowed to project above the surface, so that the traffic would form asort of mushroom to over the crevice.

It can be rcadlly understood that the purpose of this invention is' tototally submerge both the contraction and expansion parts of this jointbeneath the surface, so that when the concrete is finished and poured itwill not be visible on the surface but will accomplish the samefunction, in causing a crevice to form across the surface, due tocontraction. It will further function by waterproofing this crevice fromWithin, and upon expansion of the bituminous material, and also thepavement, it will cause the asphaltic substance to work its Way upthrough the crevice, so that after a hot period the bituminous materialmay often work its way to the sur-- face, while the base part will havea tendency to prevent moisture from coming up, filling the crevice frombelow, and in this manner the pending upon the requirements.

to form along a straight line across the con- (entire crevice will bekept waterproof, and at crete slab or in the surface above which the.the same time perform both the functions of contraction joint isinserted, do not prevent an expansion joint and a contraction joint. theingress of water, street acids and the like, i The invention can best beunderstood by which would tend to hastily corrode the referring toFigure 1, in which (a) repremetal contraction joint, and also enter thesents an expansion joint placed over the subsoil underneath the slab,keeping the subflanges (0) of' the metal contraction joint soil and thecrevice in a constantly wet damp (b), and in which (1)) is the noseprojecting condition. into the adjoiningslab. 7 My invention providesfor an'improved The concrete poured on either side 211K contractionjoint which has many advan-' Over the jointfsothat the formation of thetages, and which also provides for the Water- 81:11) will follow thelines of the joint. b) proofingof the contraction joint automatimay beof any type of metal, and may be cally, as well as allowing a betterpivot moeither. flexible or rigid. It may also be tion on the projectionanchor in the adjoin-. coated with a protecting coat or suitably finingslab. This is caused by the insertion of a lshed to prevent adhesion tothe slab of conbituminous slab of varying thickness, deretei The con InFigure 1 the projection of the contractr'action joint flanges areimbedded in the tion, joint (6) is semi-circular, so that the.bituminous slab on, either side of the projectslab adjoining thiscontraction joint may ing center. This not only tends to preserve pivoton the concrete and metal formed by the metal flanges but also has atendency to the outline (b), and so that there will be protect theprojection, because in expanding someroom for sliding motion by reasonof in warm,.weather some of this bituminous the expansion joint. (a)fitted over the flanges material .will find its way along the surface0), the effect in the paving or construction of theuncovered metal. willbe the same for contraction purposes as It may be readily understood, ofcourse, is caused by the similar insertion of the metal, that a metalcontraction joint may be coated and in addition thereto will performbetter with paint or bituminous material, in addipivot action, willallow for expansion as well as contraction,

I position and whenready to slabs arepoured agai given a core aboutwhich to pivot. The b will waterproof the crevice from within, and willextend itself automatically under pressure along the lines of thecontraction joint (6); thus preserving the metal and keeping the entirejoint waterproof. I believe it is entirely new to waterproof a jointfrom within, so that the material will find its way thru to the surfaceupon the development of crevices in the pavement. In Figure 2 I show anangular, flexible expansion contraction joint, flexible at the point(1)), having flanges (c). imbedded in bituminous expansion joint (a).The purpose of this arrangement is for better con-\ ditions for packing.

Figure 3 illustrates the same joint as shown in Figure '2 expanded whenset in pour the con.- crete.

the joint so that'the expansion joint (a) mounted on the flange (0) canbe packed in asuperposed position, as shown-in Figure 5. When placed inposition for pouring concrete the superposed layers (a) are opened up,as in Figure 4:, the joint then functioning the same as that shown inFigure 1.

Figure 6 represents an expansion contraction joint formed in a manner toallow the (filling of the circular part (6 with concrete, and issurrounded on itsouter surface by expansion joint (11*). The flanges (0arein this instance left uncovered and the nst the surface, and aretuminous ,expansion joint, upon compression, will expand alongtheflanges.(0 and keep Figure 1, except that (a?) being placed upon thejoint superposed.

1 Figure? functioning as a contraction joint, and having attached to itscenter. on either side, walls of expansion joint material.

Figure 8 illustrates the same form as in the expansion joint (a) theflange of the contraction joint (6) is placed about the centerof thesemi-circular section (b), the flanges (00) being protected merely bypaint or other suitable substance.

instead of being on In Figure 9 the contraction joint (7) takes onasemi-hexagonal shape, with two extending flanges (0), the expansionjoint the inner face of W)- In Figure 10 We have the same arrangement ofthe expansion contraction joint as in Figure 1, with the exception thatholes (d) are punched thru the joint to allow the insertion of steelbars, metal pins, or the like, for thebfurther joining together of theconcrete sla s.

It may be readily understood that there may be many variations of thisexpansion contraction joint, and that it may exist even in a very smaliform, by inserting an expan- Figure illustrates a method of preparingindicates a straight piece of metal the expansion joint'-" does not comethru to the surface of the slab.-

In this case the expansion joint would function as a contraction jointand would perform the same service upon pressure and expansion, inwaterproofing the crevice, the main difference being that it would notpro- Vide an insert into the adjoining slab. The appearance of thisjoint when imbedded would appear as in Figure 11. WVhen immediatelyfinished would take the form as in Figure 12. When contraction has takenplace and upon further expansion the bituminousmaterial would work itsway to the surface as shown i Figure 13.

Again referring to Figure .1 (act) are expansion joints which may bemade up of any suitable .material for that purpose. These expansionjoints are primarily constituted of bituminous materials and mixed withfibre, cellular material etc. (b) illustrates a contraction joint withflanges (0) imbedded in the expansion joint (aa).

Figure 2 illustrates two expansion joints (am) having imbedded thereinthe flanges of a contraction joint (b formed of flexible material forthe better packing of the joint in a small space.

Figure 3 illustrates expansion joint (aa) having imbedded thereinflanges (cc) of a contraction joint (if) made of a flexible material,expanded in position to receive the concrete.

Figured illustrates an expansion contraction joint in which theexpansion oints (aa) have imbedded thereinsthe flanges (c0) of acontraction joint (1) so shaped as to readily allow of the folding ofthe expansion joint (ad) and placed in superposed relation. I v

Figure 5 illustrates expansion joint (aa) having imbedded therein'theflanges (cc) of contraction joint (5) the expansion joint (an) beingfolded in a superposed relation for compact packing.

Figure 6 illustrates an expansion contraction joint in which thecontraction joint (0) is circular in shape, having extended flanges(c0), expansion joint ('(a) being provided about the outer surface ofthe:contraction joint (6 the center of the circular space being adaptedto be filled with concrete.

Figure 7 illustrates contraction joint (1)), having mounted upon itssides a centrally located expansionjoint (we).

Figure 8 illustrates an expansion contraction joint having thecontraction joint (21) with extended flanges (c0) and placed upon theinner surface of the contraction joint (7)) and expansion joint (a IFigure 9 illustrates a contraction expansion oint, showing thecontraction joint (7)) with extended flanges (00) the expansion joint (abeing attached to the inner face of (5). j I

lie

Figure illustrates an expansion contraction joint, consisting ofxthecontraction joint (1)) having extended therefrom flanges (c0) andmounted thereon expansion joints (am), and holes provided therethruas'in (0?).

Figure 11 illustrates a concrete pavement (e) poured about an expansioncontraction 'joint (a).

' expansion contraction joint (a) so that ithas elongated as shown at(g), and gradually filled the crevice (f) which has developed in thepavement.

Figure 14: represents contraction plate with extending prongs for thepurpose of fastening in the ground.

Figure 15 shows how this contraction plate (6) can be driven through anexpansion joint (a), where it is desired to have only a I slightelevation above the ground using narrow joints, spaced more frequentlyin road work.

claimed in divisionalapplications concurrently pending with thisapplication.

It may be readily understood that expan sion joints may be used ascontraction joints by using narrow widths of the expansion joint andplacing them at suitable distances apart, so that the crevices willappear more frequently in the road, it being the function of theseexpansion joints, which act as contraction joints, to cause the concreteto split or form a crevice wherever they are located. The additionaladvantage -m using an expansion joint as a contraction joint in thisrespect is that after the crevice is formed, by using an expansion jointof expansible bituminous material these crevices can further bewaterproofed, whereas when a steel plate is used this is not the case.

I claim:

. 1. A paving joint of changeable' vertical dimension, comprising upperand lower slab separating portions, and an intermediate portionconnecting the same adapted to be varied in form to change the relationof the upper and lower portions.

2. A paving joint of adjustable vertical dimension, comprising upper andlower slab separating portions, and an intermediate connecting portiondeflected from .the lane of the upper and lower portions and reelyflexible to permit the last named portions to be folded one upon theother for shipment.

3. A paving joint, comprising upper and lower slab separating portions,an intermediate connecting portion, and compressible material-applied toboth the upper and lower slab separating portions.

4. A paving joint, comprising upper and lower slab separating memberscomposed of compressible material, and an intermediate portion of freelyflexible material connecting said upper and lower members and adapted tohold them in substantially the'same plane while permitting them to bemoved relatively one'to the other.

5. In combination a metal separating strip for concrete slabs, and amastic crown for said strip, comprising a preformed strip of bituminousmaterial having a slot therein made to receive the upper end of theseparating strip, said slot terminating short of the upper edge of saidcrown.

6. Expansion-contraction joint, comprising a metal strip having anintermediate tongue and groove portion and fiat upper and lower endsextending vertically from said tongue and groove portion, and acompressible mastic strip mounted to the upper vertical projecting end.

7. Expansion-contraction joint, comprising a metal strip havingahorizontally' projecting intermediate portion and upper and lower endsextending vertically from said intermediate projecting portion, andcoinpressible mastic strips mounted to said upper and lower ends. v

8. A preformed expansion joint, comprising a board-like body having atongue on one side, a corresponding groove on the other'side, and a fiatportion arranged to one side of said tongue and groove, said jointembodying inits construction a thickness of plastic bituminous materialrein forced by sheet material of lesser thickness. 9. An expansion o1nt,con1pr1s1ng upper and lower board-like portions of bituminous materialand an intermediate tongue .and groove portion yoking together saidboardlike portions and forming therewith an expansion joint.

10. An expansion joint, comprising upper and lower plastic, board-likemembers of bituminous material, and an intermediate member havinghorizontally presented tongue and groove, and yoking together said upperand lower members, said intermediate member also embodying in itscomposition bituminous material. I

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, this 31st day

